A new spinnaker recycling campaign, which aims to save 200 sails from landfill, has been launched in Cornwall.

It is part of the ReSail initiative by the not-for-profit Clean Sailors, which aims to connect sailors and their old sailing gear with projects and businesses around the world that have commercial use for such second-life materials.

Local sailors can now take their old spinnakers to a special drop-off point in Newquay, where they will be repurposed by Waterhaul into beach cleaning bags.

Waterhaul’s upcycled spinnaker bags fit their 100% recycled fishing gear bag hoops – which hold the bag open for easy litter picking. Each of these hoops is made from 330 grams of recycled fishing nets and ropes.

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“We’re extremely proud that we’re able to repurpose end-of-life spinnaker sails and transform them into durable and reusable bags which will be used to tackle the wider problem of plastic pollution in our environment, when in the hands of our community and partners,” said Kieran Hill, Head of B2B Sales at Waterhaul.

“We hope to collect 200 spinnakers this winter with the support of Clean Sailors and their ReSail campaign – saving them from landfill and giving them a greater purpose!”

The drop-off point and postal address for donating spinnakers is:

ReSail x WATERHAUL
9a Seabase Units
Treloggan Industrial Estate
Newquay
Cornwall
TR7 2SX
UK

Please make sure you contact Waterhaul at to let staff know you are dropping-off. Details here www.waterhaul.co/pages/contact.

Further drop-off points for canvas, sails, jibs and genoas around the UK and beyond, can be found at https://resailbycleansailors.com.

Clean Sailors was founded by Holly Manvell in July 2020. Its mission is to “set a new standard of sailing within our global sailing community: clean sailing, by raising awareness of ocean conservation opportunities within our sport, our passion, our pastime.”

In 2021, Clean Sailors launched Cleaner Marina with industry partners including boatfolk, MDL Marinas, savvy navvy and Ecoworks Marine, to encourage better, cleaner standards across marinas, ports and harbours, globally.

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